Dear Finnish Redditors,

Would you be so kind to help me with a couple of questions regarding a connecting flight from Helsinki airport to Nagoya Japan?

I am planning a trip to Japan and there is a very convenient connecting flight from Helsinki airport. The connecting time is however a bit tight. Let me provide a bit more info:

– I have a Romanian passport, but I reside in Switzerland;

– My departing flight would be from Zürich airport;

– This would be my first non-European trip, so I apologise if it's painfully obvious to some of you!

As for my questions:

– Would 1h 55mins (maybe even less as I see this flight is often delayed) be enough to catch my connecting flight to Nagoya?

– Do I need to go through immigration once I arrive in Finland?

– How will my checked-in luggage be handled? Will I have to pick it up in Finland and re-check in for the Nagoya flight?

I'll attach a screen capture of the flight itinerary as well.

Edit: Forgot to add the screen capture: https://freeimage.host/i/2rK1cxt

Thank you kindly for reading and for any kind of information!

by julesnst

5 comments

  1. Usually if you buy them as a packet (which you should), the luggage is sent from zurich to japan directly.

    Once you go to finland, you will pass through customs, show your passport and then go to waitiing room for japan, its pretty easy, ofc you will need time and it all depends on the day.

  2. – Would 1h 55mins (maybe even less as I see this flight is often delayed) be enough to catch my connecting flight to Nagoya?

    Yes. You will be arriving in Finland at midnight. It is usually not too busy.

    – Do I need to go through immigration once I arrive in Finland?

    Yes in a way. There will be automatic gate for Schengen passport.

    – How will my checked-in luggage be handled? Will I have to pick it up in Finland and re-check in for the Nagoya flight?

    If both of your flight is in the same booking code, they will transfer it. IF they do not transfer it for whatever reason, they will inform you when you checking in at Zurich Airport. If you are unsure, you can ask the ground staff in Zurich.

  3. If you have a single booking, ie: booked through from Zurich to Nagoya then your bags will be transferred automatically and you are covered for delays. Looking at your booking, you are booked through to Nagoya.

    At Helsinki, flights from Zurich arrive at the Schengen gates, so there is no immigration/passport contorl – I took a look now and they are at the far-end (gate 14) from the non-Schengen gates. It takes about 15 minutes walk to passport control which is very efficient. There are e-gates too if you can use those. DO NOT exit the airport – you will have to go back through security.

    1h55 is plenty of time at Helsinki Vantaa – however in ALL cases, go straight to your departing gate, then when you have time, go for coffee/beer/food/shopping.

    If your flight is delayed to such an extent where you can not make your connecting flight *and* your booking is from Zurich to Nagoya (and not two separate tickets) then you will be rebooked onto the next available connection – your bags will follow you.

    As you are with Finnair all the way, your details and connection will be known and it is likely that in the event of serious delays to the inbound flight, the Nagoya flight will be held for you (at least as much is possible according to the schedules).

  4. If you are on a single Finnair ticket, the luggage will go through to Nagoya

    1:55 should be fine. In August there shouldn’t be weather or strike related delays like now. Minimum connection time in Helsinki is 40 minutes.

    As this is a non-Schengen flight, you will go through passport contol (exit from Schengen). No Customs in Helsinki.

    Helsinki airport is pretty easy, just follow the gate signs.

  5. In Helsinki you can directly go to the exit passport control and to your gate for Nagoya flight, there is no passport control between CH & FI. No need to pass security either.

     Unless you’ve booked the flights on  separate bookings. Then you need to pick up luggage and check-in for the Nagoya flight & go through security & outgoing passport control. 

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